There But For The Grace (7 page)

“Fine. But when I go back to them alone, they’ll be after you again. You should let me capture you. It will be a lot more pleasant than when they do.”

I pulled back away from the wall, turned her a bit, and shoved her towards a passage. “I want nothing to do with you, and if you’re as smart as you claim to be, you want nothing more to do with me, the keys, or Lucifer’s plot, either.”

She stumbled but caught her balance and turned back to me. For a moment, she was fuming, but then her expression softened. “Oh Tabbris, don’t be like that. You don’t have many allies, or any hope down here.”

“I’ll take my chances.”

Her voice grew softer, “But you don’t have to. I could be very helpful to you.”

“You could be, but you’re not going to be.” I shouldn’t have even started listening to her, but the dizziness had reasserted itself. My head was swimming, and physically, at least, she wasn’t an immediate threat.

“If you give me the keys, no one has to know. I can hide them where no one will ever find them.”

“You’ve already said you’re working with the Grigori. You’re not going to betray them.”

“Samyaza, Lucifer, so many others, they all want war. I don’t. I like my life. You, and the keys, could just disappear into Lilith’s Garden. I can make that happen. You know about me. What makes you think I wouldn’t betray the Grigori in a second if it served my interests?”

The dizziness grew worse, and my vision started to narrow, until I could barely perceive the pits of Hell all around, focusing in on just the succuba. Her voice seemed to take on a more resonant tone, and worse, was starting to sound more reasonable. “What is there to make me believe you wouldn’t betray me even quicker than that?”

“Why would I? You’ve already said that if Lucifer gets the keys, he’s going to kill everyone who is a threat. Samyaza would have us at Heaven’s Gates as soon as he can gather the forces. I’m not a fighter, and I don’t want to die. But what I am could be very useful to you... or better, what I could be.”

I was still trying to buy time and shake off the effect, but kept failing to find my focus again, so I kept her talking. “And what’s that?”

“Tabbris, give me the keys, and I’ll take you to the garden. And then I can be any woman you want.” Her form shifted, skin going pale as her features, then her voice, changed to match Iaoel’s. “Do you want to punish me, Tabbris? I’ve been bad. You can do anything you want.”

My hands clenched, and I staggered forward, but she just retreated a few easy steps. “Or maybe something, or someone else.” Her body and tone changed back to Adelaide’s. “Your poor mortal, a few years, she’ll be old and gray. But you could have her forever.” She stepped back towards me. “Or maybe both. I’m still on good terms with Naamah. She owes me. Two keys... two girls. Any two girls, for all time.”

Her imitation of Adelaide broke the spell, as I focused in on thoughts of Adelaide’s voice, calling to me in prayer. I was still dizzy and weak from both the lingering effects of injuries and the infernal water, but in that moment, I no longer had succuba magic to deal with on top of those. She was in reach, not noticing as I steadied myself. She was about to say more, when I caught her around the throat, lifting her off her feet. “I’m getting out of Hell, and I’m taking the keys with me.”

She tried to respond, then kicked at me instead. This time, instead of just pushing her, I threw her partway down one of the passages. “Deliver the message. And if there’s any truth to what you say about liking your life, and wanting to survive what comes next, I’d suggest getting away from all of them. Their favors aren’t worth what’s going to happen if you stay in the middle of it.”

She shifted back to her more natural form as she bounced on the stone and rolled to a stop, then scrambled back to her feet, glaring at me. “You should have listened. You’re going back to the torture chamber, for good this time.”

She kept talking, but I turned away, starting down a new tunnel in the stone. The longer she kept insulting me or telling me what I should have done, the longer I had to get a head start on whoever she’d be sending after me. I possibly should have tried to kill her, or at least incapacitate her, but for all that she wasn’t a combatant, Eisheth was an ancient and powerful being. Refusing her would earn enough of the wrath of a creature who prided herself on being irresistible. Trying to kill her would have made it worse had I failed.

***

Now I really needed to put some distance between myself and this place if I was going to stay ahead of pursuit. Despite my best efforts, Eisheth and the waters had delayed me far too long. I could hear the baying of the hounds echoing through the chambers, with no real idea what direction they were coming from. For a while, it was just the one pack, but that only lasted so long. The echoing cacophony grew worse when a second pack joined in, coming from somewhere else, deeper in the caverns. Eventually, there was a third.

I climbed where I could and ran when I had to. The baying and howling kept getting closer anyway. There was nothing I could do about leaving a trail the hounds could follow, and I couldn’t be sure, at each new passageway, if I was heading right towards one of the groups.

“Hold on, Tab.” The rest of the prayer was muted, but I got those words clearly—Adelaide again. I tried to focus in on the words, but the prayer had ended. But I had no doubt they were real. She was still out there. I wasn’t certain how long I had been in Hell, but long enough to know that if she was still in a place to think more of me than of her own safety, someone was with her and watching over her. It might mean she’d found Haziel. It might mean that Gabriel had decided he had some genuine affection for her, and had kept at least loose tabs on her. Or, perhaps, Michael had decided she might be an important part of any effort to recover the keys. I didn’t know and didn’t care. It was a moment of clarity to focus on.

That moment led to another: I was surrounded by uncertainty. The calls of the hounds echoed through the halls from multiple directions. I had no idea where I was in relation to anything. I didn’t know who was in charge of any of the groups: Lucifer, Samyaza, independent groups wanting a bargaining chip with someone higher up, or any number of others among the powers of Hell. Eventually, someone was going to catch up.

I had to shift the narrative. To fight all of the uncertainties, I had to do something unexpected. I doubled back to a chamber I’d passed through with multiple exits and a high ceiling. I climbed to a nook higher up on the walls and sat down to meditate. I rested and focused what power I could on my injuries. It didn’t do much, but it still took some of the edge off of the pain.

The baying grew closer, and as it did, I got a better sense of the direction it was coming from. I studied the chamber, noting every detail. I memorized every entrance and exit, as well as possible points of cover. If they were going to inevitably catch up, I could at least choose the battlefield.

As they got closer, I listened for the sounds of voices and footfalls, trying to pick them out amidst the noise of the pack. It was impossible to hear very much, but from a few shouts and the general noise of the group, I started to get a rough idea of numbers and what might be among them. I let a few scenarios play through my head, envisioning my moves based on what I knew, trying to plan my assault.

They came closer still, giving me a better idea how fast they were coming and how much time I had. The hounds grew more frenzied as they homed in on my scent. Their handlers might not know it, but the pack knew I was close now. I tried to focus past them, pick up on some of the more distant noises, and determine how far away they were. I had to make more guesses, but tried to get some idea how long I had before reinforcements might arrive.

The mental exercises in tactical thinking by themselves did me some good. Supernaturally induced fear and despair gave way to discipline and training. I stood up, stretched a moment, and drew my sword, before crouching down to wait out the final few moments. I had to time this perfectly.

The hounds hit the chamber first, rushing in, some following my original trail, others whipping their heads around, trying to search the room for me. I kept still, hiding in the shadowed nook a little longer. A couple of the larger hounds picked up on my location, and charged. They drew others, and most of the pack was coming right for my hiding place by the time the Demons emerged into the chamber after them.

The first of the hounds reached the wall under the recess, leaping upwards. I jumped, clearing the snapping jaws of the first hounds by inches, coming down sword-first into the mass of Demons. I put my sword through the head of the first target, crashing shoulder-first into another and sending him back into the tightly packed group just emerging from the tunnel. Another sword-thrust through the stomach of the next nearest target put that one on the ground as well. The one I’d shoulder-tackled was getting up, so I kicked him in the face, launching him back into the group again just as they were getting untangled.

That was all the time I had. The hounds had whirled about and were coming at me again, trying to pin me between themselves and their handlers. I jumped, digging my sword into the stone wall and pulling myself up higher by it. I pulled my legs up out of the reach of the jaws, as the pack’s momentum carried them into the Demons. There were screams and snarls as the Demons tried to fight off the hounds and the pack tried to disentangle themselves, or just vent the fury pent up during the hunt on the targets that had come into reach.

I pulled the sword free, pushing off the wall and landing on the floor, cutting down the first hound to come at me, then the second. The third caught hold of my arm, pulling me off balance. Before I could cut him down, a bloodied Demon came at me, forcing me to defend myself from his wild swing. Another hound caught hold of a wing, trying to drag me down to the floor. Some of the hounds and handlers were still in a tangled melee of blades and teeth, but I had still been the target the hounds had been hunting all this time, and most of them weren’t about to forget that for targets of convenience.

I managed to get my balance, despite hounds trying to play tug-of-war, and whipped my wing around. The swing dislodged the hound, sending it flying right back into the tangle, while also getting my wing in the way of two arrows, launched from the back ranks of Demons, still deeper in the tunnel.

I took a cut to one shoulder, while another hound went for one of my legs. The bites didn’t penetrate deep, but it was still wounds on top of the previous ones, and still threatened to knock me over. I knew, if I fell, I’d never get up again. I managed to lift my off-arm, hound still firmly locked onto my forearm, in time to use it to shield myself against the next arrows. The hellhound yelped at the injuries, and I managed to shake it free. A backhand knocked a Demon away from me, giving me enough room to put my sword through the back of the neck of the hellhound holding on to my leg.

I dove out of the way of the next arrows—and thus out of line of sight from the tunnel—before they got lucky with their shots. I hit the ground rolling, ending up back on my feet before the hounds caught back up. I fended off two more, stabbing one, kicking another away, before two more managed to catch hold of me. While I was trying to struggle free, two of the Demons managed to get in shallow cuts before I could protect myself with my wings. Fending off the next attacks, I managed to cut one of them down and threw the other backwards at the hound I’d kicked away, who was only too happy to snap at the Demon daring to get between the hellhound and his target.

I freed myself from the hounds again, only to be caught by another, this time by the sword arm. By the time I’d punched it in the throat hard enough to force it to let go, two more had caught on to my wings, dragging me backwards and leaving me open for a shot from an arrow, which luckily only buried itself into my arm, instead of my chest. I pulled the arrow free with my off hand, before impaling a lunging hound on my sword, then, as a Demon lunged in, grazing my side with his blade, I made him pay for it by plunging the arrow into his eye. He dropped his sword and screamed, reaching for the arrow. I grabbed him by the throat and dragged him in close, using him as a shield against the next attacks from a hound and a Demon. The first grabbed onto the Demon’s arm, the second attack ended the screaming with an attack meant for me.

I collected several more cuts, another arrow (this time to the thigh), and numerous more shallow bites by the time I finally cut down the archers. The number of arrows in downed bodies, and the amount of hellhound-savaged limbs among the Demons, and even the hounds, spoke both about the effectiveness of my plans, and how little the denizens of Hell cared about preserving one another in the face of a chance to attack. I’d finished them all before reinforcements had arrived, but the voices and baying were growing louder by the second.

I spent the time I had collecting more cloth from the bodies. I’d need bandages, and soon. I picked up more arrows, then turned my attention back on the room. By the noise, this group was even larger. I tensed, readying my sword, focusing on what had to be done. They came, the hounds leading, and hissing Demons coming after. This group even included two of the Fallen, running along through the tunnels at the back of the group. I caught three arrows with my wings, readying myself as the hounds came at me, and behind them, their handlers emerged into the caverns.

As the last of the group exited the tunnel, and the lead hound was almost on top of me, I whirled, channeling a smiting blow into the nearest wall. The stone exploded under the holy might, and I dove for the nearest tunnel, leaving the first hounds crashing into the wall behind where I’d been. A moment later, my best guesses about the room were proven correct, as the chamber—after the thunderous impact and without the support of the broken wall—collapsed. Screams and howls echoed behind me, and I had to cut down two hounds and a Demon who managed to follow me into the tunnel before they were caught under the crushing stone. The caverns continued to shake, and cracks extended down the walls. With no one chasing me anymore, at least not immediately, the thought of being buried down here inspired a new burst of speed, despite all the injuries.